Registered Charity
51 - 100 
About us
Who we are
We are a specialist Further Education college, where every 16-19 student takes Computer Science and all of our diverse Higher Level and Degree Apprentices work in skills shortage disciplines in innovative, blue-chip companies.
The UK has 800,000 unfilled IT jobs1 and the digital skills gap is costing the UK economy an estimated £63 billion a year in lost GDP2but young people are not being adequately supported to bridge this gap, with over 50% of secondary schools in the UK not even offering Computer Science3.
Ada seeks to fill this skills gap, but in a different way: One that ensures young people are being equipped with the skills industry actually needs and one that empowers young people who are currently underrepresented in UK tech.
The College focuses on achieving three aims:
- To be the centre of excellence for the teaching and learning of advanced digital skills
- To offer students a viable, high-quality alternative to university
- To be a beacon of best practice for employment-focused provision
Ada was announced by the Prime Minister in December 2014; England’s first new FE College since 1993, we opened our doors at our Tottenham Hale campus for the first time in September 2016. Since then we’ve gone from strength to strength including a Good with Outstanding features4 in our first Ofsted Inspection.
16-19 Provision:
As of September 2024, we have 182 16-19 students enrolled. Our most recent results are outstanding, the best ever:
● 100% of students who studied the BTEC National Diploma in Computing passed their 2-year course
● 79% of our students achieved at least one Distinction in Computer Science.
● A fifth (21%) of students achieved their highest grades possible
● 50% of A-Level Further Maths scored A*-A
● 80% of students have secured their first University choice.
● 28% of students are going to Russell Group Universities
This makes us the best education institution in the country for this BTEC with Ada students achieving an average of a grade higher per unit in their BTEC than the national average.
Degree Apprenticeships:
Across our London Victoria and Manchester Ancoats campus, we have 363 apprentices currently enrolled on our Higher and Degree Level Apprenticeships. We specialise in five disciplines at present: software development, data analytics, tech consultancy, cyber security and business analysis, working with a wide range of SMEs and corporate organisations such as PwC, Bank of America, Deloitte, Clearscore, Just Eat, Capita, MHRA, Booking,com and Salesforce.
Our culture and values
Goals:
● By 2028 we will have transformed the lives of 10,000 young people through access to outstanding digital skills training. To reach that goal we will achieve national scale and are delighted that our two new campuses are growing rapidly and meeting local demand for diverse, entry-level tech talent.
● The College is focused on using digital skills as a tool for social mobility and diversity in the tech sector. At present 38% of our learners are female, 51% are from ethnic minority backgrounds and 50% come from low income households compared to national averages of 20%. Our diversity metrics are significantly ahead of national averages for colleges and training providers but we want to go further and achieve in excess of 50% for each of these metrics by 2025.
Want to get involved?
There are many ways to help make a difference to our young people and to the tech sector by volunteering, taking apprentices and philanthropy. Please email [email protected] to find out more.
